A short local loop

There’s not a lot of import or consequence to this entry other than to say that, woot woot, even after not wrenching on my bikes for 3 years, I’m still capable of mostly making them run properly again.  🙂

I finished up the Ninjette maintenance last week Tuesday and got everything all buttoned up.  I started it up to make sure it ran, but didn’t actually ride it anywhere.   The only difference now is a very loud exhaust valve, which I’m not worrying about.   I only adjusted one valve, which had previously been too tight, so presumably that’s the chatterbox now.  As my buddy Andrew says, his BMW valves “clatter like a can full of rocks being thrown down a flight of stairs when cold”.

Anyway, yesterday I wanted to do a short shakedown ride to make sure that the bike wasn’t going to explode or anything.  I did a quick 45 mile loop over the hill, to the coast, north a little, then home.

Kings Mountain Road remains one of my favorite rides on the peninsula.  It’s so much fun.  Good clean road, nice sweepers, towering redwoods…happy motorcyclist.  Unfortunately the lighting in the redwoods is total ass for on-board photography and this is the only picture I got that wasn’t completely blurry.

 

When I got to the intersection of Kings Mountain and Skyline, up at the summit, I pulled to the side of the road and thought I smelled gasoline.   Since I had removed the fuel tank during the maintenance, I moved the bike to a flat spot and did some investigation.

Sure enough, there was a very tiny tear in the fuel line running from the petcock to the carburetor.  Pooters!

Not a problem — I don’t go anywhere without a roll of Rescue Tape, which is the best invention that man has ever created. Rescue Tape has been my savior in roadside repairs so many times over the past decade that I can’t even count.  Go buy a bunch right now. Go!

Rescue Tape duly to the rescue, I started off again down the hill on Tunitas Creek.  Go figure, the bike not only didn’t smell of gas leak anymore but actually ran quite a bit better too.  I wonder whether that hole had started even before I did the maintenance and I just never noticed.  Anyway, a new fuel line is on order but the Rescue Tape will hold nicely in the meantime.

I realized partway down Tunitas Creek that I’m very rarely on that road any time other than the dead of winter.  I kept expecting to come around corners and find SUVs hauling Christmas trees.  “Where are the SUVs?” I thought.  “Where are all the pine needles covering the road?”  Yeah, it’s September, Carolyn.

Again, Tunitas isn’t very conducive to on-board photos, but I did find a nice sunny shoulder to pull over onto.

From Tunitas, I puttered onto Lobitos Creek Cut-Off and headed towards the coast.  I love Lobitos Creek Cut-Off and its open sweepers amongst the coastal farmlands.

I had a very short jaunt along the coast up to Half Moon Bay.  It was a gorgeous day on the ocean, for once, but you’ll just have to believe me as my camera battery died and I had neglected to bring a spare.

Here is my one and only coast photo from the day:

But that was pretty much that anyway.  Just a short 45 mile loop, about an hour and a half, and I was back home to run errands and be productive again.

But the important part — the bike is running well!  I’ll try to do a longer ride next Tuesday. 🙂

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6 Responses to A short local loop

  1. Pingback: The bike is back! | Bluepoof's Adventures

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